ID News: groups all over Europe will be taking part in events to protest about the growing Database

south west | globalisation | news report Friday October 10, 2008 15:03 by no2id supporter

Plus events in Plymouth!

ePassport hacked, and groups all over Europe will be taking part in events to protest about the growing Database/Surveillance State and more.

NO2ID News No. 108

9 October 2008
++ HELP US SHOW PARLIAMENT THE BIG PICTURE ++

On Saturday, groups all over Europe will be taking part in events to protest about the growing Database/Surveillance State. NO2ID have teamed up with the Open Rights Group to show Parliament the 'Big Picture' by constructing a giant image made out of thousands of pictures taken by UK citizens of surveillance state ephemera. YOU can join this protest from anywhere in the UK by simply sending us a photo. We would like you to send us a picture of 'the database state' in YOUR life. We want images of the signs of mass surveillance, and any form of intrusive ID or state control - cameras, cards, scanners, forms, whatever you like.

Already hundreds of photos of surveillance cameras and other database state ephemera from all over the country have been emailed or uploaded to Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=FnFBigPicture&m=tags) but there's still time to send more. Take a photograph with your (digital) camera or mobile phone and send a copy to FreedomNotFear@no2id.net

On Saturday morning a small group will go to Parliament Square in London to build an image showing where the incremental invasions of our privacy you’ve been documenting will eventually lead British society. Let's show Parliament the big picture of surveillance in the UK.

What just happened?

+ EU and Fingerprinting Children +

The European Parliament's Justice and Civil Liberties Committee has voted to increase the minimum age of fingerprinting for EU passports from 6 to 12. Statewatch reports that: "This decision puts the European Parliament on a collision course with the Council (27 governments) who want the age to be six years old and above (some governments want it lower still) - the measure is subject to co-decision. Six years old was accepted by the Civil Liberties Committee rapporteur but rejected by the Committee." Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP, the author of the amendment, described the UK government's policy laundering on the issue of passports, when she said: "The UK is not legally allowed to join either the EU passports or visa schemes as we choose not to be part of the Schengen zone, but the UK government tends to shadow EU developments and even lets it be thought that they are under an EU obligation."
More info at http://www.statewatch.org/news/
+ Professional group criticises NHS IT - but privacy not on the agenda+

The Association for Informatics Professionals in Health and Social Care (ASSIST) has made a formal submission to an Independent Review Group looking at information technology in the NHS. The submission criticises the original aims of the NHS National Programme for IT (now called Connecting for Health): "We reject the notion that the NHS is analogous to a bank (especially in the current “credit crunch�!), a global telecommunications company or an airline, and thus believe that focussing on their ICT models for a healthcare environment was fundamentally flawed". Missing from the report though is any discussion of privacy with regard to patient records which the government want to computerise and upload to a central database - "the spine". Recent media reports have revealed that NHS chiefs plan to sell patient information to private firms - all of this facilitated by new databases. The NHS Confidentiality campaign has information about opting out of the spine and are currently working on an opt out for the Secondary Uses Service.
See http://www.nhsconfidentiality.org

What's next?

+ Consultation on Data Retention Directive +
The government has launched a consultation on the Electronic Communications Data Retention (EC Directive) Regulations. Responses should be sent by 31st October by e-mail to commsdata@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk or by post to Andrew Knight, Home Office, 5th Floor, Peel Building, 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF.
See http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/cons-2008-transp...inary

+ New consultation on Connecting for Health and secondary uses of patient data +
"NHS Connecting for Health are gathering people's views to help them make important decisions about the ways the NHS can use information it collects about patients. Such patient data is mainly used to provide care and treatment but can also have additional uses such as research, auditing the quality and safety of care, management planning, etc. This consultation is focusing on additional uses." Responses should be sent to Chrissy Brand (FREEPOST RRXB-TTRR-HJGB, Tribal Consulting, Palatine Road, Manchester, M22 4DB) by 10th December.
See http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/systemsandservice...ation

+ LOCAL GROUPS NEWS +
The size, influence and activity of NO2ID's local group network is unique amongst single-issue campaigning and is growing all the time. Groups raise awareness of the work of NO2ID, inform their local politicians and journalists about the depth of the ID scheme and provide us with our now main method of attracting new members and supporters. Their work is vital and effective and enables us to maintain a relatively high local media presence that many campaigning groups envy. To see if there's a group in your area check our list at http://www.no2id.net/localGroups/
Or, if you're interested in starting a group yourself, please contact Matty on local.groups@no2id.net to discuss what's involved and what we have in place to support coordinators and their groups.

+ Plymouth +

+ 2nd November - Pylmouth NO2ID Meeting (1st Sunday of month) +
Sunday, 2nd November from 7-9pm and every first Sunday of the month thereafter at The Chestnut Tree Cafe, 13 The Parade, Barbican, Plymouth, PL1. These meetings will serve as a catalyst and we'll be working hard to make sure there's a plan of action resulting from every meeting. If you can't attend but are still interested in the activity of the group please join the mailing list on http://lists.no2id.net/mailman/listinfo/no2id.plymouth or contact Simon (the coordinator) on plymouth@no2id.net

"ID" in the news

+ The all-seeing state is about to end privacy as we know it - The Guardian 8/10/08 +
Plans for a vast central database of our emails, phone calls and texts will see everyone monitored as a potential suspect. Next month's Queen's speech will contain a brief reference to an innocuous-sounding communications data bill.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/08/civ...vacy/

+ Tories plan streamlined children's database - Kable 8/10/08 +
An incoming Conservative government would replace the ContactPoint database of all children in England with a system covering only those seen as vulnerable. Its central system would cover only groups such as those in care, on the child protection register or with backgrounds of domestic violence, according to Tim Loughton, the shadow minister for children and young people.
http://tinyurl.com/4omndf

+ Oyster card hack instructions published - The Time 7/10/08 +
Details of how to hack into identity cards that give millions of people access to secure buildings and public transport networks have been published online.
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_w...4.ece

+ Boffins (finally) publish hack for world's most popular smartcard - The Register 6/10/08 +
Two research papers published Monday have finally made it official: The world's most widely deployed radio frequency identification (RFID) smartcard - used to control access to transportation systems, military installations, and other restricted areas - can be cracked in a matter of minutes using inexpensive tools.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/06/mifare_hack_fin...shed/

+ UK border facial scan tests hit by errors and breakdowns - The Register 6/10/08 +
A trial of automated border control using facial scanners is already in trouble, according to UK Border Agency (UKBA) sources quoted by the Daily Telegraph. The scanners at Manchester airport, said one source, are breaking down on almost a daily basis, and the automatic booths are unable to detect 'tailgating', where two people go through on one passport.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/06/manchester_face...rial/

+ Foreigners' ID cards £2.8m over budget - Kable 3/10/08 +
The IT cost of identity cards for foreign nationals has risen 29% from £9.6m to £12.4m and is running more than a year late
http://tinyurl.com/3edbee

+ ID cards: a badge to prove you're 'one of us' - Spiked 2/10/08 +
New Labour's ID cards scheme is a desperate attempt to magic up some sense of British togetherness.
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/5774/

+ Shadow home secretary attacks surveillance - Kable 1/10/08 +
Dominic Grieve, the shadow home secretary, has criticised government projects including identity cards in his speech to the Conservative Party conference
http://tinyurl.com/4j8nrk

+ Jacqui Smith unveils the UK's new identity card - Telegraph 26/9/08 +
The UK's first identity card for 60 years has been unveiled by Jacqui Smith - with no sign of the union flag or mention of the word Britain.
http://tinyurl.com/3jutz2

+ Elvis has left the border: ePassport faking guide unleashed - The Register 30/9/08 +
The Hacker's Choice (THC) has released details of a procedure that allows you to "create a backup of your own passport chip(s)" - or, if you were that way inclined, use a modified chip to build a fake ePassport that will not be detected by at least some passport readers.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/30/epassport_hack_...tion/